


apples and cinnamon.

by yandereshit



Series: Readerland [3]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 09:55:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14078328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yandereshit/pseuds/yandereshit
Summary: I figured I never posted on Ao3 my contest work for werewolf!Zen! It's quite lenghty so I didn't place it in the "readerland" one shot storage. Anyway! Hope you enjoy it!





	apples and cinnamon.

All the doors were closed and you stared out the window, observing as the sun slowly went down, lower and lower. The red light spilled over the forest, which was its only sign you could see now; the sun disappeared from your sight a while later, hiding behind the mountains. Here, far away from the plain city, days always seemed to last shorter; the very moment the high wall of hills stood in between you and the sun, it already became dark around. But the sky was still lit up, the enormous amount of colors breaking through the cotton-like clouds, as if some kind of god painted it to its enjoyment.

Knocking to the door startled you a bit and you looked in its direction through the window, making sure it’s exactly who you expected at this hour.

He didn’t notice you as you stood there for a short while, watching him curiously. He was staring down at the handle, waiting for you to open. With every breath, he let out white steam as it was quite cold outside. He didn’t look like he’s feeling cold though, his body didn’t shiver even once. After all the time you spent together, you knew already that his body temperature was relatively high all the time and the Autumn weather didn’t bother him at all.

You opened the door.

His face lit up at the sight of you, as always.

“Hey…” he greeted you, smiling sheepishly.

“I was waiting for you” you said, returning the smile. “Wanna eat something? You probably won’t get much rest at night…” you said, going to the kitchen. He took off his shoes and followed you without a word of complaint, the pleasant smell of freshly baked cookies reaching his nostrils and luring him straight to the stove. “A-ah, I haven’t taken them out yet!”

“I can do this” he said, opening the oven.

You quickly slapped his hands away.

“H-hey, I just wanted to-“

“ _Gloves_ , Zen _. Put on the gloves first.”_

The look on his face made it obvious that you just _hurt_ his pride. You couldn’t care less though, at least he didn’t burn himself with the hot oven-pan.

You put on the gloves and took the cookies out. The scent of apples and cinnamon was incredibly strong at this point and you couldn’t help but sigh in content. The ones at the edge of the pan were a bit burned, but they still looked well.

The look on Zen’s face made it obvious that he thought exactly the same. You didn’t even want to ask when was the last time he ate normal, warm food, so you took out a plate to place the cookies on, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to resist much longer.

You could almost see him salivating, but he obediently waited until you placed the plate on the table.

“Here you go, good boy” you joked, making him look at you with these puppy-like, innocent eyes.

“Don’t joke about it” he mumbled with slight annoyance that disappeared the very moment he bit into a cookie.

_You could swear that if you saw him in his wolf form right now, his tail would be happily wagging._

“How much time do we have left?” you asked, looking at the clock hanging on the wall.

He followed your glance and sighed.

“Around an hour. I should have come here sooner. We would have a bit more time…”

“We’ll have a whole month after that. Cheer up” you chuckled. He let out a soft groan and wrapped arms around you, bringing you to his chest.

You didn’t notice it earlier, but the way his heartbeat was rushing made you realize how nervous he must have been.

Of course, how could he be not… Out of all the full moons, this one seemed the most dangerous. So much that he agreed for you to spend this time with him, in the wooden cottage far away from the city.

He hated how vulnerable he’d become on these days. All the preparations here were only supposed to make sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone. The very moment he turned into a wolf, he wouldn’t remember who he is anymore. Till the very morning, his _other_ nature would take over his mind and body.

And as much as normally he would never let you even leave your home at night, this time you convinced him to let you come here… in case anything went _wrong_. You were supposed to stay there and find him in the morning. And to call Seven if anything bad happened, so that he’d take care of it with his own measures.

Because it was the time when the hunting season started. And the forest at night wasn’t a safe place anymore, even for him.

You considered just closing him in the basement of the cottage through the night, so that he wouldn’t be able to get out. But it turned out that the door wasn’t strong enough even to keep him in place as a human, so it definitely wouldn’t do the trick. He didn’t become _just_ a wolf after all. He became something far stronger and bigger. Wooden door wouldn’t be able to stop him.

It was dangerous to have him so close to you at this moment. But you promised to close all the doors and windows and stay on the second floor till the morning, so that he wouldn’t really think about entering the house as he wouldn’t see any point in it. He was supposed to eat enough earlier so that he wouldn’t even get an idea of going hunting.

You two only hoped that he wouldn’t decide to hunt the poachers…

You wouldn’t hesitate to say that the poachers would be the unlucky ones. And yet, with all the weapons they carried, it wouldn’t end well for any of you.

“Ah, I have what Seven gave me” you recalled suddenly, fleeing from his embrace and to the living room. You opened your bag and took out a collar, quite large one. “Will it be good? I’m not sure… how large your neck will be, so…”

“It’ll be good” he said quietly. His voice quivered slightly when you handed him the collar. Things like this would always make him feel uneasy, you noticed. But he knew it’s for his own good. “Is it turned on?”

“Yeah” you nodded and took out the small device. “There’s GPS in it so I’ll be able to find you in the morning… and also…” you hesitated, but the man looked up at you, waiting for you to continue. “He added… something else.”

“Something… else…?”

“In case something goes wrong, it…” You cleared your throat. “He was thinking of using some sedatives, but he wasn’t sure how your body would react to those… He said he didn’t know how exactly will it work on you, but he wanted to make sure I’ll be safe just in case, so… he installed a stunner in it. He gave me that remote with the GPS thing, but I can also use it to stun you… The problem is that he used a quite high current so it’d surely work, but just, it may also be… just, _too_ , high, and…”

You didn’t really want to talk about this, but you felt obliged to explain it to him.

Zen let out a soft sigh and put the collar on his neck without a word, only to take your hand and bring you close, wrapping arms around you once again and, albeit unwittingly, letting you once more listen to his rapid heartbeat.

“Do your best to not need to use it” he said. “But if you do, don’t hesitate. Because I will not be able to hesitate either. What will be there at night… It _won’t be me_. Don’t ever try to think otherwise.”

His words were calm and even a bit cold, but his embrace was reassuring, contrasting with what you’ve just heard. You supposed the current Seven used wouldn’t be _that_ strong. He could, after all, only imagine what kind of a creature Zen was about to become. It shouldn’t hurt him, not too much.

You honestly hoped it’d actually do anything to stop him though. Just in case it turns out to be useful…

“I… gotta go” Zen said after a short while, leaning away from you. He scratched the nape of his neck awkwardly. “There’s still some time left, but I’m going to run as far as possible. If lucky, I will be at least a bit tired, so… I won’t want to do anything stupid.”

“But remember, if you hear anything, run in the opposite direction. No matter where you are. Stay away from _them_.” Your tone was serious and Zen nodded, his expression tense. You hesitated a bit before speaking again. “…Zen. Does it…” You tilted your head to the side. “Does it hurt…? You know, when you turn…”

He smiled softly.

_More than you can imagine._

“Not at all. Don’t worry. That’s the smallest of our problems so far… Besides, I’m used to it…” he sighed, ruffling your hair in a friendly motion. “Take the cookies and go upstairs. See you in the morning, princess” he added, snickering as you panicked at the suddenly displeasing state of your hair.

He turned around, going towards the door.

“How about a good-bye kiss?” you asked, crossing your arms, clearly discontent he could forget about something so obvious.

“Hmm, I don’t know…”

“Come here” you mumbled, grabbing his coat to tug him a bit lower and placing a short, wet kiss on his lips.

His eyes narrowed, as if he expected something more. He leaned down, gently holding your chin in between his fingers.

You smiled softly, kissing him once more.

He broke the kiss, too quickly for your liking, and sighed.

“Good bye.”

“Stay safe, Zen.”

“You too, princess.”

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

The moment night fell upon the mountains, the whole forest froze. No birds dared to let out a chirp, the wind disappeared completely. As if the world fell silent in a second.

Everyone noticed it. _Everyone_. Even people who, against their common sense, decided to choose this particular night to look through the forest, not bothered by any threat they should at least be aware of.

The clouds disappeared completely by now and the sky was clear, letting the perfectly round moon shine through the darkness, making this night brighter than any other, so bright they could see the surroundings almost perfectly.

The moment they left the huge car, a loud howl could be heard, somewhere not too far away from them.

All of them looked in its direction, clearly pleased by the sound. A lonely animal was a good prey, No way they’d have a problem catching it, alive or not. Not with all the experience and professional equipment they had.

It was supposed to be easy.

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

The wolf was lost. He knew where he _was_ , and yet, he didn’t know where to _go_. Something was missing and he wanted to find it, but no scent was hoovering in the air, except for the faint, calming smell of apple and cinnamon. He didn’t know what that smell was supposed to mean, but it seemed to lure him somewhere, even though it was way too faint to actually find its source.

He did the only thing he could then, picking up his pace and running forward, wherever was the place he would eventually find himself in.

The more he ran though, the less of the apples and cinnamon he could feel and it made him even more uneasy, being deprived from something that felt just so natural.

So he turned in a different direction and kept running, not counting the steps, not looking at the moon nor for any particular trace.

The smell would never grow any stronger though. The wolf was lost.

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

“It’s running around?” the man asked, frowning. “They usually run in one direction. Or maybe there’s more than one?”

“I doubt” someone else shrugged. “Guess he got lost. Good for us. Gotta track him quickly.”

He loaded the gun and made sure all the parts were working properly. The bullets were large, big enough to kill a wolf with a single shot or at least harm it heavily. If it pierced its paw, it wouldn’t be able to use it again for a long time. The head? It would die in a moment. In any other place it’d cause enough harm to make the animal at least vulnerable.

“Did anyone check the snares?” the man asked another question.

“I already set the new ones. We’ve got a few hares, that’s all” another person said in a blunt tone.

There was a visible tension in the air and everyone was deadly focused. It was clear that any wrong move could either restrain them from the reward they desired or cause danger they could only imagine how enormous.

But they were experienced. They didn’t hesitate. If a prey appeared, they’d make sure to find it and catch before it could either run away or fight back.

“You’ve got the nets?” another person asked.

“Got ‘em.”

The men listened carefully, trying to work out the animal’s pattern. Years of experience helped them specify the exact distance. They knew what to do. They knew how.

And by now, they were already sure there was nothing that could surprise them.

“Gentlemen” someone spoke all of sudden. “How about a _sweet treat_ before we start?”

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

Apples and cinnamon. Apples and cinnamon.

The scent lingered in the air, making him suddenly stop in his tracks. It was stronger than the humans’ scent he’s been sensing for a while now but decided to ignore. This one was what he sincerely hoped to feel, and the very moment it reached his nostrils, he knew where to go.

He wasn’t in this place before. The humanine, annoying scent was what made him avoid it. But now, with the aroma luring him forward, he couldn’t help himself.

He needed to find it.

He ran faster and faster, so fast it took him only a few minutes to see the group of people sitting next to each other, talking quietly, not really bothered with anything. They seemed wary of their surroundings… but not enough. They surely didn’t expect _something_ to watch them, way too confident in the moon’s light brightening up the small clearing they gathered on.

“Haven’t heard anything in a while” one of them said suddenly. The wolf didn’t understand, but he laid his ears down, leaning closer to the ground, careful not to let out a single noise.

“Maybe he went to sleep?” someone joked.

“Hope he didn’t run away. It was a good chance.”

The wolf observed them for a while, but the scent in the air only intensified and he couldn’t help but let out a soft, hunger-filled growl.

“…Guys? Have you heard that too?”

“Get the guns. Slowly. Don’t fire until I tell you to.”

It was like an invitation. The growl intensified, but no one dared to move, everyone’s eyes wandered around, looking for its source.

 _The_ _source_ entered the clearing slowly, its glistening eyes watching over all the people gathered around the car.

No one dared to move, but everyone’s eyes were on the creature. The creature way _different_ from what they expected.

“Holy fuck” someone whispered. “It’s… fucking _huge_.”

“Quiet. Aim. Slowly. Don’t piss him off.”

Apples and cinnamon.

The wolf approached them a bit too confidently for their liking, but he was still too far. As they all already figured out, he was too strong to be underestimated. Too big to shoot in just any part of his body in hope it’d make him just bleed out. Their bullets could kill him, but If they didn’t hit the good spot – and only his head was a good spot in this case – the bullet would waste and the beast would go mad. Or worse, run away and never come back.

The animal let out a soft growl when its eyes fell upon the sweet treat one of the men was still holding. The man’s eyes widened when the wolf went in his direction.

“Carefully…” someone next to him whispered, raising the gun to his eye and aiming at the beast, calming his breath as it came close enough for him to be able to let out an almost clear shot in its head.

But then, suddenly, the wolf’s eyes glistened and he stopped in his tracks, growling loudly.

_That was not the scent he was looking for. These weren’t… the apples and cinnamon he desired._

Everyone almost jumped at the loud noise.

“Fire!”

The loud bang noise echoed in the mountains and passed along thousands of trees, far, to the places none of the men could ever even imagine. The sound was so loud it stunned them all for a short while and in that exact moment they weren’t able to tell what’s around them anymore.

And the very moment their senses finally came back, in the middle of the clearing, they saw a small pool of dark blood glistening in the light of the full moon.

The beast was gone.

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

Whatever woke you up at this hour, surely made you even more anxious than you already were. You sat up and covered yourself with the thick blanket.

After a while of hesitation, you stood up and made sure all the windows in your room were closed. It was still cold though. You turned off all the lights and only the fireplace gave you some warmth a while ago, when it was still blazing. But when you went to sleep, the wood burned down completely, leaving only a small, glowing pile of ashes.

What time was it? You went to sleep not too long ago…

You reached your phone.

Half past two _ante meridiem_. There was one missed call from Seven you didn’t pick up since you turned off the sounds, which was pretty much your habit, but today it was surely a bit reckless to do. He must have been worried, you assumed.

You sent him a short message saying that everything’s alright so far and put the phone back on the counter, remembering to turn on the sounds this time.

You stood up and went to the fireplace, extending your hands to use the rest of the warmth it could give you. The wood ran out already so you’d have to go down onto the first floor to bring more, but you weren’t sure if that’d be a good idea. The whole point in staying in one place was to avoid your scent to spread so that no one would be able to find out you were there. You had to suck up the coldness.

You returned to your bed and wrapped yourself in the blankets again, reaching to the counter once more.

You didn’t make many cookies, but it was the best comfort you could have in your position. You wrapped yourself in all the blankets you had and munched on a cookie, staring in silence at the moon outside the window. Even with all the lights turned off, it was still so bright in there.

The scent of apples and cinnamon surrounded you and stuck to your clothes when a little bit of the stuffing fell onto your clothes. You took it and without a hesitation put back in your mouth. It was too good to waste.

You didn’t know how long were you sitting there before the sleep took over you again and, with a partly eaten cookie in your hand, your head fell onto your chest, the thick blankets preventing you from falling back down onto the bed.

You swore you’d fall asleep in this position. If not the noise that made you raise your head suddenly and look around, as if to make sure it wasn’t only your imagination that made you hear things in the state of dreamy _delirium_.

But then you heard the noise again: something like steps on the veranda, making the floor creak so loudly you thought the whole house is trembling.

You froze and listened in silence, praying so that – whatever was there at this hour – would just go away. Or maybe it was a human…?

You stood up in an instinctive attempt to check it out.

But then you hesitated, your breath hitching as you slowly moved back to the bed, afraid of making the floor creak under your steps.

You reached to the drawer and took out the small device with a screen Seven gave you earlier this day.

With trembling hands, you turned on the device. After a few amazingly _long_ seconds, the screen flickered in an old-fashioned way and showed a cross in the middle, along with a red, blinking point.

The point was right next to the cross.

You didn’t even remember you were still holding the cookie, until it crushed in your other hand and fell to the floor.

You held the device tightly, the trembling of your body making it difficult to not drop it. You held your breath, repeating in your thoughts a prayer, the only thing you could think of at the moment.

_“Go away. Please, go away. Go away. Zen, go away. Please…”_

Sound of an impact under your feet made you jump, startled, and you felt your eyes water up in fear.

_It was a bad idea. It was a bad idea to come here…_

_You wanted only to help, not to die…_

_“Why did you come here, why did even you come here…? Just go away, I don’t have anything for you, just go away, go away…”_

The impact echoed once more and you heard the wooden door give up with a crash.

Apples and cinnamon. Apples and cinnamon…

You heard the steps leading to the kitchen. There was still some food, of course it’d lure the animal. Something creaked again, but you weren’t sure which furniture was that you probably wouldn’t be able to use ever again.

The steps didn’t stop though. The animal didn’t find what it was looking for…

You stopped praying, your whole body trembled as you heard the steps on the staircase. The whole house shook along with these steps. You could only imagine how heavy the creature was.

_Heavy enough to bite off your head with a single snap…_

You covered your mouth with one hand, trying to shake off the thoughts. No use in these now. You stopped breathing, as if it could be of any help at this point.

The steps slowly, as if hesitantly approached your door. You waited for it to break down, but a single push was enough to make the handle give up.

In the bright light of the full moon, a pair of red eyes stared at you, attracting your attention even more than the huge, toothed jaws, opened slightly in the beast’s tired panting.

The wolf’s head only was bigger than your whole chest. His snow-white fur was longer than this of a normal wolf, and his shoulders were so wide they barely fit in the door. Standing, the wolf was not much shorter than you. And his eyes were focused on yours when he slowly entered the bedroom.

You backed away to the window. Your heart was beating so fast it hurt and you felt as if it’d burst out of your chest if the wolf was to come you any closer.

The red eyes glistened, paralyzing you with their power.

Taking a step forward, the wolf suddenly glanced down at the floor.

His eyes widened as he leaned down and let out a soft growl, in a quick snap swallowing what he found there.

The partly eaten, crushed cookie.

_Apples and cinnamon._

A loud howl filled the room, making the windows tremble and the wolf fell to the floor, exhausted.

He laid on his side and that was when you noticed a pool of crimson liquid gathering on the floor between his hind feet.

Your eyes widened as he laid his head on his paws, letting out a quiet whimper. His eyes closed and the breathing slowed down.

“Zen?” you whispered.

The wolf didn’t move and you took a single step in his direction, your finger already pressed to the stun button on Seven’s device.

“Zen…?” Your eyes watered up as he still refused to move and you couldn’t help but take a few more, reckless steps.

The creature raised its head abruptly and snapped its jaws in the air along with a loud growl that made you jump away and fall to the floor, startled.

The wolf didn’t move from his place though, as if not caring much about your existence as long as you didn’t come too close.

But you weren’t going to stay in this place. There were still a few hours left before the dawn. Your heart wouldn’t survive this. Not to mention, you didn’t want to risk the wolf getting hungry and willing to chug something bigger than cookies.

Though it seemed that the cookies were surprisingly tempting to him.

You reached slowly and took the plate still resting on the drawer.

The wolf’s eyes followed the plate in a motion so familiar you couldn’t help but smile, even if your lips trembled in fear when you kneeled down and, placing the plate on the floor, moved it slowly closer to the fireplace.

The very moment your hands lost the contact with the plate, the wolf stood up abruptly – way _too_ abruptly for your liking – and, swaying from the exhaustion, in less than five steps approached the plate, making you almost run away to the other corner of the room.

Only then, when he lied on the floor again and paid attention to the cookies only, you dared to sigh in relief and, even though still holding the device in your trembling hands, pass through the room and to the door, as quietly as possible, not daring to close them behind yourself as you didn’t want to bring the wolf’s attention to yourself with such an unwelcoming move.

The very moment you were back on the first floor, you collapsed to the ground, letting out all the terrified tears you were holding back all this time.

˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙

The first rays of sun appeared early, not a single cloud forbidding them from spreading over the world.

The light reached through the window and fell upon his face, waking him up from the slumber.

He covered his eyes with the arm, letting out a quiet, weak whine of displeasure.

The wooden floor underneath his head creaked when he tried to turn to the side, making him open his eyes and sit up abruptly at the sudden _realization_.

The pain shot up in his stomach and he looked down, staring at the wound next to his navel, almost completely healed by now. His naked body was covered in blood, even more of it was surrounding him from every side.

He took off the collar and threw it aside, getting up in attempt to run to the door. He felt dizzy though and his head spun when he made the first step, sending him face first to the floor.

He stared at the door in silence, trying to recall at least a single trail of what happened at night.

Nothing came though, his mind was temporarily empty, as always after these nights. Past ten hours were filled with rage and bloodlust he couldn’t even bring himself to understand. But no image came, not a single word he’d have heard during this time.

And he felt just too tired to stand up…

A few minutes passed before the door flung open and the familiar silhouette entered the room, running to him in a speed of light… or maybe it was just him who didn’t contact with reality well enough.

“Zen. Zen! Can you hear me?!”

She fell to her knees next to him and threw a blanket over his body, placing his head on her lap, making him glance up at her, the slightly pained expression on his face when he moved a bit to adjust to her position.

“Princess…”

He grinned at her, reaching up to touch her face.

The girl had tears in her eyes, which he realized just now. The very moment his fingers made contact with her skin, she let them run down her face and his eyes widened.

“W-wait, don’t cry, w-what happened, did I…?”

Her hands clenched on the blanket as she tried her best to not hurt him with her tense movements.

“Y-you’ve been hurt…” she said quietly. “…And… y-you’ve been…”

His breath hitched when he supported himself on his hands, sitting up to look at her closely, listening intently to every word she spoke, ready to hear the worst news possible.

The news didn’t come though. The girl’s arms wrapped around his neck, bringing him into the tightest hug he’s ever been in.

He breathed out a shaky sigh of relief. The pleasant warmth spread all over his body, making all the tension go away in an instant. The embrace was almost painful. But it brought comfort. Reassurance.

“You… haven’t got hurt, have you…?” he made sure in a quiet, tired voice.

She shook her head.

“No, not at all…”

Her fingers caressed gently his hair and the motion calmed down the both of them, making them relax in silence.

The sun was warm. The same as the day before.

“…So, it’s over for now” she exhaled in a tired voice.

“For now, I guess…”

Somewhere in the background, they could hear the faint noise of Seven’s car approaching the house. The gusts of wind raised the dust from the ground and made the last Autumn leaves flee away.

Only the small group of people and two stains of crimson – one in the house and one on the small clearing – remembered what happened at night.

And what would happen again, a month later, and every next month of the werewolf’s life.


End file.
